The manager of an Aughton care home which closed due to serious failings has been banned from nursing.

Joan Parr had been registered manager of Silver Birch Lodge in Holt Green when a number of serious problems were identified in August and December 2018 and February 2019.

These included a resident found trapped in a bed rail twice and residents not being given routine medicines for days on end.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council was alerted to issues in February 2019 after an inspection found that a catheter had been administered to a resident by Parr without a prescription or advice from a GP.

Parr told the NMC she had "not thought things through" at the time, with the resident urging to go home over the Christmas period.

In August 2018, the CQC had found that while residents felt safe their safety was not always guaranteed under Parr's management.

"Two people required specialist mattresses to maintain their skin integrity and reduce the risk of skin damage occurring. We looked at the equipment and saw it was set incorrectly," the CQC said.

"The mattresses were set at a weight heavier than the last recorded weight of both people. This posed the risk that the person's skin integrity would be compromised."

Inspectors also found six people were not given their morning medicines until 2.30pm to 3.30pm, with some needing antibiotics before food and others needing them at specific times of the day.

Medicine risks continued, with one resident given the wrong dose of medicine for five days in a 21 day period. Another resident was not given eye drops for 21 days in a row, increasing the potential risk of glaucoma related blindness.

There was a serious infection risk at the home, with soiled washing placed in a washing machine while clean clothes were present in the laundry.

Inspectors from the CQC then found one person trapped in a bed rail that did not have a bumper; the same person was then found trapped in the same bed rail on the very next day of the inspection.

The care home itself was shut down following the February inspection with residents moved to safer care facilities.

QLocal story on the closure: https://www.qlocal.co.uk/ormskirk/ne...C-55037391.htm

A sitting of the NMC's Fitness to Practice Committee last month's ruled that Parr should not be allowed to work in nursing again due to the seriousness of the incidents that happened under her watch.

"Residents and their families were relying on the home to administer their medication and provide safe and effective care," the panel said.

Particularly shocking to the panel was the evidence before it that residents with serious health conditions went days without receiving their medication.

"Mrs. Parr was made aware of the areas which needed improvement within the CQC’s first report dated 31 October 2018. By the time of the CQC’s second inspection, three months later, the quality of service had deteriorated to such an extent that the CQC issued a formal notice to cancel Mrs. Parr’s registration as a registered manager."

"The home was subsequently closed down. The panel considered Mrs. Parr to have had opportunity enough to make the improvements suggested to her by CQC, but she failed to take any action at all."

Ultimately, the panel found her misconduct put residents at "serious and continued risk of harm".

"Mrs. Parr’s misconduct breached the fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and therefore brought its reputation into disrepute," it said.